Sep 18, 2005

U.S.A Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann at his visit in the ministry of women affairs today on 18th of September Parliamentary election day which held for the first time after three decades in Afghanistan. He called the parliamentary elections as success in Afghanistan future.About the attack on UNAMA's office in Kabul today morning, the ambassador mentioned “firing two rockets was nothing significant as the insurgents had a lot of weapons, it also pointed to the fact that they had failed in disrupting the polls”He also said: his country had granted $40 million for the elections besides sending a large number of observers to monitor the landmark event in Afghanistan.

A large number of women in Zabul, Nangarhar, Khost and other provinces failed to vote in Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections in more than three decades.

In remote villages of the southeastern Khost province, eligible female voters were avoided to go in polling station to vote for their destiny. Thus no women voted. Not even a single woman could exercise her begging rights.As women candidates was very less comparing to men but presence of women in polling stations were not much. Many of them has disappointed with the last presence in the presidential election last year. Afghan woman still suffer from injustice and pains from their men. A day before the election, i met two young ladies which were coming out from Malalai Hospital in the city. I asked them “to whom you are going to vote, who is your favorite among 400 condidates in Kabul city?"

In my answer one of them said: " We have the voting card but we are not going to vote, because there is no an appropriate person among them to select and elect for him. I said:" you can vote for a woman and she knows your suffering and pains". She said woman to woman do injustice. I was working for three years in a hospital, while my boss changed and the new boss dismissed me from my work and employed her sister’s daughter. For six months i was jobless and we did not have money to buy food, i stopped sending my children to school and told them to go out and work to be alive…She was telling the story very tragically while a person from inside the hospital called her and she left me.

In many polling station people arrived earlier than expected time. Many of the voters were complaining that they waited in line for two three hours until they got their turn. Local police treats to people was so bad. Many of the voters were threatened from police. There are number of reports from remote areas which are saying that the police avoid most of the voters to vote for their favorite candidates. One of them said: “While the police stopped us in the check point for checking they were telling us to vote for their candidate that they want, even they threatened us if we do not vote, they make problems.

In another reports from Takhar (northern of Afghanistan) were saying that because of bad behavior from police a large number of people men and women left the polling station. This was happened while a police beaten an old man. They were saying that police is for taking security not to beat or threat the people but while we faced this serious problem we peacefully left the polling station.